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Vic and Lem
A running theme in the last two seasons of the series was Vic's regret towards what happened to Lem. As a result of the Money Train robbery which the team had convinced a reluctant Lem to participate in, Lem developed great fear and health problems from having to live with the aftermath of the robbery, which included innocent lives in the crosshairs of the Armenian Mob, Captain Aceveda, Detective Wagenbach and the Department of Treasury all looking for the culprits. Having had enough, Lem burned all of the money to elude capture. However, this ignited antagonism between him and Shane Vendrell, which ultimately contributed to the downfall and eventual demise of the Strike Team. When the Strike Team eventually returned, Vic had Lem get collateral from a drug dealer to ensure a tip regarding the whereabouts of a body that could implicate Shane was corrupt. The brick of heroin was soon seized by IAD and Lem became a means with which Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh could take down the entire Strike Team. Lem's loyalty was tested when he found out Vic killed fellow detective and Strike Team member Terry Crowley due to the fact that Crowley was secretly an informant, but he remained loyal to the team. After an arrest caused by Vic and Lem's viewing of a personal moment between Kavanaugh and his ex-wife, Lem decided to plead guilty to the charges. But with Vic unable to fulfill a deal with Antwon Mitchell to ensure Lem's safety, Lem's life was in danger as Mitchell promised to have Lem killed in any prison he is as a way to hurt Vic and Vic made Lem to become a fugitive. Before Vic and Ronnie could meet up with him, Shane killed Lem with a grenade, after Lem refused to escape to Mexico. In the aftermath, Vic undertook several actions to avenge Lem's death, including torturing and killing Salvadorian drug lord Guardo Lima and trying to murder real killer Shane on multiple occasions after he learned of Shane's role in Lem's death. Vic never managed to kill Shane as Shane killed his family and then committed suicide to avoid capture (Season 7), however Vic did indirectly contribute to Shane's death by taunting Shane during a phone conversation about how Shane will go to prison with his wife Mara, while Vic will be free (thanks to an immunity deal with ICE) and that he will tell stories of Shane and Mara's crimes to their children, which was more than enough to cause the deaths of Shane and his family, thus indirectly avenging Lem. Vic still felt remorseful about Shane's death, even though Shane killed Lem and tried to kill Vic and Ronnie. Lem, the only one Vic still had an untainted friendship with, remained the one Strike Team member in the Strike Team photo in Vic's cubicle at ICE. Shane and Ronnie were cut out of the photo - Shane due to betraying the team and Ronnie due to the fact that Vic couldn't bear the thought of selling out Ronnie for all the crimes the Strike Team committed, including the murder of Terry Crowley and the Money Train robbery. Category:Relationships